Last Updated: February 05, 2023, 22:42 IST
The victims have alleged that the Mann government like the earlier Congress and Akali regimes is delaying the investigation.
(File photo/PTI)
The emotive sacrilege issue has impacted the political fortunes of both the Akali Dal and the Congress party in the past and the fresh round of protests seems to have sent alarm bells ringing in the Mann administration
In what could give some anxious moments to the Bhagwant Mann government, a large-scale protest broke out in Punjab’s Faridkot district with victims of the Kotkapura police firing incident along with several Sikh organisations blocking the Bathinda-Amritsar national highway for several hours.
The Kotkapura firing incident had taken place on October 14, 2015, after alleged sacrilege cases. The emotive sacrilege issue has impacted the political fortunes of both the Akali Dal and the Congress party in the past and the fresh round of protests seems to have sent alarm bells ringing in the Mann administration. The victims have threatened more blockades if justice was “delayed further”.
The protestors, under the banner of the Be-adabi Insaaf Morcha, are seeking immediate submission of the police investigation report on the cases and subsequent firing on protesters in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura.
Though the protesters have been sitting on a dharna at Behbal Kalan since December 2021, they intensified the agitation today when they took to the highway.
The protests have come at a time when the AAP was facing the heat from its own MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap who met the protesters three days ago and expressed `his dismay at the delay in justice. Pratap had recently resigned from a Vidhan Sabha Committee on Government Assurances, where he wanted to raise this issue.
With protests escalating, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Mann government sought information from the public over the sacrilege cases. SIT head ADGP LK Yadav on Sunday said that if anyone has any additional, relevant information, which may have a bearing upon the Kotkapura firing case could share by personally meeting him at his office at Floor 6, Punjab Police Headquarters, Sector 9-C here from 11 am to 4 pm on February 10 or February 14, 2023.
“Even at this stage any input/information provided by any responsible individual might prove to be very helpful for the SIT in completing this legal process of investigation at the earliest,’’ the SIT chief added.
The AAP said that it was committed to providing justice to the victims. AAP spokesman Malwinder Kang said while there was political interference in the police investigation during the Congress and the Akalis regime, the Bhagwant Mann government was committed to justice in the cases and the government will resolve the issue without any bias.
The victims have alleged that the Mann government like the earlier Congress and Akali regimes is delaying the investigation.
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